Dinosaur gets thumbs up from Capistrano cultural panel

This 13-foot-tall dinosaur statue at Zoomars Petting Zoo in San Juan Capistrano has been the focus of a months-long dispute over whether it is appropriate for the Los Rios Historic District. PAUL BERSEBACH, REGISTER FILE PHOTO

Zoomars Petting Zoo's controversial dinosaur statue received its first vote of approval from the city of San Juan Capistrano on Tuesday night as the Cultural Heritage Commission endorsed owner Carolyn Franks' proposed modification to her conditional-use permit.

The 2-1 vote – with two commissioners absent – was a surprise to some in the audience, coming after months in which the statue was the center of a dispute about its proper place in a town known for its Spanish and American Indian history, not for prehistory.

Commissioner Lorie Porter was out of town but sent a letter to the panel saying that she opposed Zoomars' proposal because of a "total disregard" for proper procedure.

Franks proposed a modified permit that would reorganize the zoo into four themed sections, including a prehistoric garden featuring the 40-foot-long, 13-foot-high apatosaurus statue the zoo bought at an auction for $12,000. The zoo is in the Los Rios Historic District, California's oldest continuously inhabited neighborhood, and strict rules limit what businesses can do with their properties.

Zoomars installed the statue in a play area in June without city review or permits. The Capistrano Historical Alliance Committee, a group of residents with longtime family ties to San Juan Capistrano, immediately objected, calling it a "mockery" of the city's history. The city issued an eviction notice for the statue in July, and Franks appealed to the Planning Commission, which denied it. Franks decided to forgo an appeal to the City Council and instead proposed to modify the zoo's use permit to create a farm area, an Old West town, an Acjachemen Indian village and the prehistoric garden.

"What a great opportunity for these local kids that live here in San Juan that don't have the opportunity to go to the Discovery Science Center (in Santa Ana) and can't afford the tickets or the transportation ... it's here in their own back yard," Cultural Heritage Commissioner Nathan Banda said in supporting the plan. "It's something that is educational, and I'm a big fan of that as well."

Commission Chairwoman Rhonda DeHaan said she didn't agree with the way Franks initially installed the statue but said the commission was addressing a different issue Tuesday.

"I am not convinced that dinosaur disrupts the integrity of the Los Rios District," DeHaan said.

City staff recommended that the commission reject the part of the modification that would allow the dinosaur. A staff report said the "statue appears to be inconsistent with the purpose and intent statement of the Historical Commercial Zone District," which it said focuses on the past 200-plus years of local history. A dinosaur expert told The Orange County Register in October that apatosauruses (also known as brontosauruses) roamed 65 million to 180 million years ago, when the area that is now San Juan Capistrano was under the sea.

But DeHaan said the statue is a good way to get people to the district who wouldn't normally go.

Staff members showed photos of the statue partially hidden behind trees. Franks said the dinosaur is not visible from Los Rios Street.

Commissioner Jan Siegel cast the dissenting vote, saying the dinosaur turns the area into an amusement park. "This area is too fragile to allow any further disturbances of its resources," Siegel said.

Though the cultural panel's vote is advisory and must now be considered by the Planning Commission that rejected the statue earlier, Franks shed tears of joy afterward.

"That was unexpected," she said. "Minds are opening, and that's a good thing. ... I'm just thrilled. We worked so hard on all of this."

Jerry Nieblas, president of the Capistrano Historical Alliance Committee, said Franks had "flipped off the community."

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